IMPERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 5 



atmosphere over and near the stream swarmed with infinite 

 myriads of Ephemerae and little gnats of the genus Chirono- 

 mus, which in the sun-beam appeared as numerous and more 

 lucid than the drops of rain, as if the heavens were showering 

 down brilliant gems. Afterwards, in the following year, one 

 Sunday, a little before sun-set, I was enjoying a stroll with 

 a friend at a greater distance from the river, when in a field 

 by the road side the same pleasing scene was renewed, but 

 in a style of still greater magnificence ; for, from some cause 

 in the atmosphere, the insects at a distance looked much 

 larger _than they really were. The choral dances consisted 

 principally of Ephemera, but there were also some of Chiro- 

 nomi : the former, however, being most conspicuous, attracted 

 our chief attention. Alternately rising and falling, in the full 

 beam they appeared so transparent and glorious, that they 

 scarcely resembled any thing material : they reminded us 

 of angels and glorified spirits drinking life and joy in the ef- 

 fulgence of the Divine favour. 1 The bard of Twickenham, 

 from the terms in which his beautiful description of his sylphs 

 is conceived in The Rape of the Lock, seems to have witnessed 

 the pleasing scene here described : — 



" Some to the sun their insect wings unfold, 

 Waft on the breeze, or sink in clouds of gold ; 

 Transparent forms, too fine for mortal sight, 

 Their fluid bodies half dissolv'd in light ; 

 s Loose to the wind their airy garments flew, 



Thin glittering textures of the filmy dew, 

 Dipt in the richest tincture of the skies, 

 Where light disports in ever mingling dyes, 

 While every beam new transient colours flings, 

 Colours that change whene'er they wave their wings," 



I wish you may have the good fortune next year to be a 

 spectator of this all but celestial dance. In the meantime, 

 in May and June, their season of love, you may often receive 

 much gratification from observing the motions of a countless 

 host of little black flies of the genus Hilara (H. maura), 

 which at this period of the year assemble to wheel in aery 

 circles over stagnant waters, with a rush resembling that of a 

 hasty shower driven by the wind. 



1 The authors of this work were the witnesses of the magnificent scene here 

 described. It was on the second of September. The first was on the ninth of 

 that month. 



B 3 



